Sound Cards

[Eversmen]

I'm having trouble with looking at sound cards. I was originally going to purchase a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium for my new PC build, but the reviews are making me think twice about this card. Is there any other sound card, or manufacture that competes with this? Or should I ignore some of the reviews and purchase it?

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium

Thanks,
-Eversmen

[Akaru]

Asus Xonar D2X
Asus Xonar STX

I was just doing research on sound cards yesterday (true story) and I like the Asus Xonar lineup more than the Creative X-Fi. X-Fi has a limited sample rating of 24bit 96Khz on all except the Titanium Fatal1ty Champion card. Most, if not, all Asus Xonars support 24bit 192Khz.
The D2X and STX has a sound to noise ratio of 118dB, while the Titanium Fatal1ty Champion has a SNR of 109dB.
The downside for Asus Xonars is that it doesn't "natively" support EAX 5.0. EAX 5.0 is supported through a hack, so it's not a true 1:1 replica of EAX 5.0. X-Fi on the other hand support EAX 5.0 natively.

Now, I have no idea what EAX, SNR and sample ratings are. But I know that the higher either are, the better. :D

I recommend the D2X over the STX (over any X-Fi) because the STX is more towards studio rather than home theater and gaming (from what I understand and see).

PS. Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series is the longest and ugliest name EVER.

EDIT: Just read up some reviews on the D2X and it says that EAX 3.0 and up are proprietary to X-Fi. So only X-Fi cards will carry any EAX 3.0 or higher. I also read that EAX is a MUST for hardcore gamers that want to hear an enemy breath from a mile away. But Asus uses a hack that tells a game that it supports EAX 5.0 and is able to get those additional streams.

I still recommend the D2X.

[Shadowex3]

Part of EAX is the number of simultaneous sounds played, 5.0 was kinda a big deal since it went from like 30 to over 100.

Just look for an "X-fi Xtrememusic", the right one will be a fullsized card (same width as the metal thing with the plugs on it) rather than the tiny ones and should be very inexpensive compared to the rest. It's a true hardware x-fi that's been discontinued, has none of the superfluous crap (the xram was useless), and gives fully functional EAX 5.0 and CMSS3d.

If you don't use headphones though it's not as big a deal what soundcard you use, the main thing with x-fi's was the headphone support.

[SchmoSalt]

I have the Titanium (without the front I/O panel) and I have to say it could be better. I'm not an audiophile or anything. I have the card set to output DTS 96Khz/24-bit via optical to my Z-5500 speakers and it sounds great to me.

My problem with the card is the drivers. The drivers are absolutely terrible. At random times I get static buildup which I can only correct by resetting the drivers which kills any audio stream open at the time. This makes me have to go and restart any programs that had an open audio stream.

It doesn't happen too often, but it is still really annoying. Creative has always made shit drivers, so this was no surprise to me.

[duhoh]

static happens with improper output configuration, or you have some leftover old drivers that were improperly uninstalled.

I have an X-Fi, and I like what it can do. The box says that it can only go 24-bit and 96 KHz, but my sound settings in control panel are set to 24-bit 192 KHz.

Auzentech makes some solid cards as well, and good drivers. However, their customer service isn't very responsive, but still, the cards are solid.

The Xonars are nice cards, but for gaming, go for creative. For music, Auzentech.

[Shadowex3]

Or get an Auzentech X-fi which includes CMSS3d for gaming and Auzentech's quality hardware for "audiophiles".